Electric cable connector



Jan. 11, 1966 so 5 ETAL 3,229,240

ELECTRIC CABLE CONNECTOR Filed March 12, 1963 Ob 10a fizlbllllllllim r13 Bun, 2

INVENTORS WILLIAM B. HARRISON 5R. F G 5 BY WILLIAM EHARQISON JR.

$ M QM AT TORNEY United States Patent 3,229,240 ELECTRIC CABLE CGNNECTGRWilliam B. Harrison, Sr., Oak Park, and William B. Harrison, Jan,Western Springs, 151., assignors to Brad Harrison Co., Hillside, Ill acorporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 12, 1963, Scr. No. 264,547 2 Claims.(Cl. 339-170) This invention relates to electric cable connectors andmore particularly to an auxiliary electrical connector that eliminateswear and tear and replacement of connectors that are difficult toreplace.

It has always been a problem in the electrical connector field to avoidwear and tear on an electrical connector which is difficult to replaceas almost invariably such a connector is located and disposed in anelectrical system at a point where it receives considerable abuse andwear and tear. Therefore it is inevitable that such a connec tor must bereplaced from time to time and it presents an inconvenience and hardshipon the replacers thereof. For the purpose of this application, such aconnector will be called a critical connector.

Our invention is intended to eliminate wear and tear on a connectorwhich is dilhcult to replace by shifting the wear and tear to anauxiliary connector which is easily replaced.

In accordance with our invention, we have provided an auxiliaryelectrical connector which has a means for firmly locking it to acritical connector to save wear and ear on said critical connector andmeans for unlocking said locking device conveniently in order that saidauxiliary connector can be replaced with a minimum of inconvenience.

Although we have illustrated our auxiliary connector utilized incombination with a permanent male connector and critical femaleconnector that is attached to a permanent lead, our invention should notbe limited to this as we intend it to cover auxiliary connectors usedwith other types of male and female connectors. 7

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an auxiliaryconnector which will eliminate or lessen the amount of wear and tear ona critical connector when associated therewith.

It is further an object of this invention to provide an auxiliaryelectrical connector which has a novel locking device that enables it tobe associated with a critical connector in a locked relationship therebyeliminating or lessening the amount of wear and tear to said criticalconnector.

Still even further, it is an object of this invention to provide anauxiliary connector which can be associated with a critical connector totransfer the wear and tear from said critical connector by being firmlylocked thereto and having the ability to be conveniently disassociatedtherefrom, thereby enabling it to be replaced conveniently.

Still even further, it is an object of this invention to provide anauxiliary connector having male connector portions projecting therefromwhich firmly lock with a critical female connector portion that isdiffioult to replace and having a female connector portion on the otherside thereof for connection to a male connector portion therebyeliminating or lessening the amount of wear and tear to said criticalfemale outlet portion.

Other and further objects of this invention will become more readilyapparent when taken in conjunction with the description and drawingwherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of our invention shown in disassembledrelationship with a permanent male connector portion on one side thereofand a critical female connector portion permanently attached to a cableon the other side thereof;

FIG. 2 is a view taken on a plane passing through the line 22 andlooking in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1 and looking in thedirection of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a partial half sectional view of our invention illustrated inFIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of our invention illustrated inFIG. 4.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, our auxiliary electricalconnector is illustrated generally as a device having an outer body 19which can be molded into different shapes but is preferably illustratedas rectangular. The body 10 is made of a molded insulating material suchas rubber, and has a male connector portion 10a and a female connectorportion 10b. The male connector portion 1% has a plurality of conductors13 projecting therefrom and has a cavity portion 14 formed therein whichis shaped to receive a connector such as the critical female connectorportion 16.

The conductors 13 extend from the end of the female connector portion10b of the auxiliary connector and project outward of the end of themale connector portion 10a. The conductors are hollow and have acylindrical portion 20 at one end sized to receive the conductorportions ,of a male connector such as the permanent male connector 31a.There are shoulder portions 21 intermediate the ends of the conductorportions 13. And tapered bores 20a lead from the shoulder portions 21 tothe other ends of the conductors 13 which are part of the male connectorportion 10a; indentations 13a in the conductor portions 13 enable theconductor portions to be positioned and retained in the body 16 of ourauxiliary connector. Retaining means such as the projections 18b aredisposed to be received by the indentations 18a when the conductormembers 13 are properly positioned in the body 10 of the auxiliaryconnector. The tapered hollow portion Zita is threaded at 26b and itcommunicates with an opening 25 on the side thereof as illustrated inFIGS. 4 and 5. The opening 25 is cylindrical in shape and convergingportions 27a at each end thereof to retain a spherical bearing 27 aredisposed therein. A tapered pin means 22, having a tapered pin member22a that is integrally attached to a screw means 221), is disposed inthe conductor portions 13 as illustrated in FIG. 4. It will be seen thatthe screw means 225; has a head that is retained by the shoulder 21 andthe screw means is sized to threadedly engage the threaded means Zllb ofthe tapered hollow portion 20a, as illustrated in FIG. 4. And when thescrew means 22b has its head resting against the shoulder 21, thetapered pin 22a forces the bearing 27 to have a portion thereofprojecting outward of the conductor portions 13. With this type ofstructure, the bearing means 27 is forced against a critical femaleconnectors inside surface to form a locking relationship. It should berealized, that although the opening 25 is cylindrical and has theconverging portions 27a at each end thereof to retain the bearing 27,different arrangements are contemplated in accordance with the shape ofthe bearing means 27 which can also be altered. Also the screw means221; is made with any well known head which can be caused to turnbecause of its being able to be engaged by a screw driver or the likeand access thereto is gained by inserting a tool through the portions20. The conductor portions 30 are provided as ground ing means and alsofor the purpose of positioning the auxiliary connector properly for analigning connection with the other connectors.

It will therefore be seen that when our auxiliary connector is intendedfor use, the male connector portion a is associated with the criticalfemale that the conductor members 13 protruding therefrom are receivedtherein. Then the tapered pin means 22 are inserted into the hollowopenings through the cylindrical portions until they are in alignmentwith the tapered hollow portion 20.2. 'A tool can be used to cause thescrew means 22b to threadedly engage the threaded means 20b until thehead of the screw means 22b is in contact with the shoulder portion 21.With this action, the tapered pin means 22' is forced downward throughthe tapered hollow portion 20a until the tapered pin 22a causes thebearing means 2 7 to project outward therefrom and into contact with theinner walls of the critical female connector 16 to create a lockingrelationship therewith. The auxiliary connector being locked intoassociation with the critical female connector 16, then has the femaleconnector portions 10b thereof associated with the permanent maleconnector 31a by having the conductors thereof inserted therein.

It is manifest that the critical female connector portion 16 does notreceive the wear and tear that it would have received had the auxiliaryconnector not been used. Instead of this, the female connector portionsof the auxiliary connector receive the wear and tear and abuse thatwould have before been borne by the critical female connector member 16.Therefore when it is discovered that the female connector portions areWorn,

the auxiliary connector can be replaced conveniently by disassembling itfrom the circuit. When this is desired the auxiliary connector isconveniently disassociated from the permanent male connector portion 31aand the tapered pin means 22 is disassembled by unscrewing it therebyunlocking the auxiliary connector from the critical female socketportion 16. Then a new auxiliary conector can be assembled into thearrangement and in the same manner as before thereby extending the lifeof the critical female connector and obviating the necessity forreplacing it with a great amount of inconvenience to the replacersthereof.

Although we have shown a specific construction of our device, we arefully cognizant of the fact that many changes in the shape and contourmay be made without affecting its opcrativeness, and we reserve therights to make such changes, as we may deem convenient without d p rt ngro hesr tof ouni ent or h Scope of the claims.

We claim:

1. An auxiliary electrical connector to increase the usable life of acritical female connector comprising:

a male connector portion including at least one male prong, said maleprong having a hollow portion extending lengthwise therewithin;

side opening included in said one male prong and communicating with saidhollow portion;

a bearing member restricted in said side opening, said side openingbeing dimensioned to permit said bearing member to protrude outtherefrom into the hollow portion of said male prong when in a firstoperative position and to protrude out therefrom into the outside ofsaid male prong when in a second operative position, said one male prongbeing insertable into said critical female connector when said bearingmember is in said first operative position; and

a tapered pin removably inserted into said hollow 'portion of said onemale prong, said tapered pin controlling the' force applied bysaidbearing member against the inside of said critical female connector whensaid bearing member is in said second operative position.

2. An auxiliary electrical connector, as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid hollow portion of said 01161112116 prong is tapered to receive saidtapered pin, the positioning of said tapered pin within said taperedhollow portion controlling the force applied by said bearing meansagainst the inside of said critical female connector.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,822,986 2/1'958Schreier.

2,912,667 11/1959 Sloat 339--267 X FOREIGN PATENTS 843,859 10/1960 GreatBritain. JOSEPH D. SEERS, Primary Examiner. W. DONALD MILLER, AssistantExaminer.

1. AN AUXILIARY ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR TO INCREASE THE USABLE LIFE OF ACRITICAL FEMALE CONNECTOR COMPRISING: A MALE CONNECTOR PORTION INCLUDINGAT LEAST ONE MALE PRONG, SAID MALE PRONG HAVING A HOLLOW PORTIONEXTENDING LENGTHWISE THEREWITHIN; A SIDE OPENING INCLUDED IN SAID ONEMALE PRONG AND COMMUNICATING WITH SAID HOLLOW PORTION; A BEARING MEMBERRESTRICTED IN SAID SIDE OPENING, SAID SIDE OPENING BEING DIMENSIONED TOPERMIT SAID BEARING MEMBER TO PROTUDE OUT THEREFROM INTO THE HOLLOWPORTION OF SAID MALE PRONG WHEN IN A FIRST OPERATIVE POSITION AND TOPROTRUDE OUT THERFROM INTO THE OUTSIDE OF SAID MALE PRONG WHEN IN ASECOND OPERATIVE POSITION, SAID ONE MALE PRONG BEING INSERTABLE INTOSAID CRITICAL FEMALE CONNECTOR WHEN SAID BEARING MEMBER IS IN SAID FIRSTOPERATIVE POSITION; AND A TAPERED PIN REMOVABLY INSERTED INTO SAIDHOLLOW PORTION OF SAID ONE MALE PRONG, SAID TAPERED PIN CONTROLLING THEFORCE APPLIED BY SAID BEARING MEMBER AGAINST THE INSIDE OF SAID CRITICALFEMALE CONNECTOR WHEN SAID BEARING MEMBER IS IN SAID SECOND OPERATIVEPOSITION.